A stoic, physically intimidating man, Mr. Voorhees is described as having reddish-grey hair and appears largely mute, with there being some implication that Jason's supernatural traits were inherited from him. There is little backstory to the character, but from what we do know about Elias Voorhees, he was not a very intelligent man. He spent the remainder of his life as a coal miner, and he was an abusive alcoholic who hated Jason for his disability. It is said that at some point, Mr. Voorhees pays a visit to his son's grave in Eternal Peace Cemetery and after paying the caretaker, Martin, realizes his son is not in his casket by simply looking at the burial plot (Jason having been earlier resurrected as a zombie-like entity).

Elias was to appear in some of the Friday the 13th movies, such as Jason Lives. Kane Hodder was set to play Elias in two films, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday and Freddy vs. Jason. These never materialized, however he does appear in the novelization of Jason Lives and some other comic stories that expand his universe.